NO DEAL ON CASPIAN DELIMITATION.

Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko told the press yesterday that “disputes on certain legal issues remain to be settled” between Russia and Kazakhstan regarding the bilateral delimitation of the northern Caspian sea floor. The agreement recently signed in Moscow by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbaev was merely one “in principle,” Kirienko said. “When all issues are settled, when the legal status will have been agreed, Russia will be prepared to invite foreign investors” to the area. (Russian agencies, July 14) The phrasing suggests that an actual agreement is still a long way off. Analysis of the document made that clear immediately upon the signing. (See the Monitor, July 9) –VS

PRO-RUSSIAN NAMED MAYOR OF KYRGYZ CAPITAL.